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Grown-Up Reads

8 Thrilling, Chilling Books for Halloween

by Jennifer Ridgway

Halloween is the perfect time to pick up a book that scares you. While there are some classic tales worth reading this time of year (see our recommendations at the end of the article), there are also some great new books hitting the shelves.

So turn on all the lights and curl up with one of these spooky stories … just be prepared to be up late, listening for things that go bump in the night (hopefully it’s only your cat!).

If Stephen King calls a book “Scary as hell,” you have to believe it’s exactly that. Beukes interweaves elements of fantasy, horror, and police procedural into a twisted exploration of urban decay. Fast-paced, intense, and highly ambitious, this addictive book will keep you up far too late.

Michael Morrow is determined to break away from his family … and their connection to the girls who go missing from the nearby highway. When he meets a pretty girl who works in the next town, he starts to think that he can live a more normal life. His brother, though, is determined to remind him of who he has become.

For those looking for a unique vampire book, Tripp has given us this new look at vampires. Sax is an antiques dealer who has, along the way, killed vampires for his treasures. When the vampires finally have enough, he becomes the hunted. With the blessing of the Catholic Church, Sax puts together a group of vampire killers to help protect what he holds dear.

There is something hunting people by sound alone. As one family attempts to outrun it, Lebbon ratchets up the reader’s adrenaline and fear. The lengths that people go to in order to survive may be scarier than the monsters.

A modern-day The Exorcist, Tremblay’s book evokes questions about science and religion, the reliability of memory, and true nature of evil. With some of the scariest scenes you will ever read, it will leave you with chills long after you’re done reading.

A little bit ghost story, a little bit thriller, Malfi’s novel plays to our biggest fears — namely, the fears of our childhood coming back to haunt us as adults. When Laurie returns to her childhood home, strange things start to happen, and she begins to fear that she is slowly losing her mind. A creepy, atmospheric ghost story with twists along the way.

Leonora (Lee to some, Nora to others) wakes up after a trip away with a long lost friend with no memory of what happened; rather than wondering what took place, she’s trying to work out what she did. Ware’s book is a great pick for those (like me) who don’t deal well with scary, but love a good psychological thriller.

Imagine barely surviving a murder attempt that claimed the lives of three other girls, with only scattered memories of what happened. Now imagine waking up two decades later to a sign outside your window that hints that the killer, whom you thought you helped put behind bars, may still be roaming free. Heaberlin has written a tense, page-turning thriller.